Ancient Promises

by Jaishree Misra

Set in contemporary India, we enter a world of arranged marriages and family loyalties. Janu leaves her Delhi childhood and starts married life with a complete stranger in Kerala. Beautifully written, the semi-autobiographical style adds authenticity and emotional depth. A great read.

Extract

Home, for virtually all my life, had been Delhi. Big, busy, bustling New Delhi. Two thousand miles away from Kerala, which is about as far as you can go in India, without tumbling into the Indian Ocean. This, I suppose, had always been the chief paradox in my life. That these two places ran together in my blood, their different languages and different customs never quite mixing, never really coming together as one.